Perch
by CloudedCreation
Summary: Becoming a bird was the best thing to ever happen to Harrison Evans. slash. Harry/Huginn & Muninn. Animagi. AU.


What Harrison Evans wanted most of all, was to be loved.

Orphaned young, then shipped from orphanage to foster home and back again, in an almost endless seeming cycle, he had never been anything exceptional. Just another parentless child among hundreds of his like.

At least that was the case until he got that particular letter of rough paper on his eleventh birthday. He had no memory of ever being wanted, only of neglect, hurt, poverty and bullying, so when he was _chosen_ – him, not another one of the kids where he lived for the moment – he felt _special_. He felt appreciated, different, wanted, and most of all, he considered it an opportunity for him to start all over. A colourless canvas, not yet filled with things like 'orphan', 'waste' or 'freak'.

What actually met him, on that train heading in wide circles to the most protected spot in Scotland, was a huge disappointment.

They looked at his second-hand-clothes, and called him 'poor'.

They heard his last name, and said 'mudblood'.

They learned of his being able to talk to snake, and named him 'evil'.

Not the same words, not the same insults or abuse, but the message stood the same.

He.

Was.

Not.

Wanted.

No human liked him, at mere eleven years old that was a truth Harrison Evans had to face. The snakes, the owls, the cats and all other animals liked him just fine – more than others to be honest – and when he by chance met the creatures that lived in the Forbidden Forest, he learned that they liked him too. The only conclusion his mature yet oh so childish mind could draw from that, was that the fault lay not in him, but within humanity.

-x-x-x-

Harrison spent days searching the library for that single piece of knowledge which would change his reality. He knew it was possible, a professor had done it on his first day of class, so it _had _to be there, but he didn't want to ask anyone for help, if he was going to abandon humanity he was going to do it _right_.

On his own.

Then, one measly Thursday, last class over and no other living being except Irma Pince in the library, he found the tome he had been searching for. _'Your animal within'_, by Aemilia Bennet.

He studied it till he knew all the words within by heart, every advice, every warning, every requirement needed to make the transformation possible as _soon _as possible. It was hard, it was tough and most certainly was it annoying since it took such time and concentration and experience in magic to achieve, but he would not be stopped. And then, one evening well into his fourth year attending Hogwarts, he succeeded.

It had not been easy in any sense of the word, but he had _done_ _it_ so he was finally able to get away. He didn't care for his OWLs or his NEWTs, he wasn't going to return to the humans after all, much less ever going to get a job where he needed the grades. He was going to be an animal in every aspect, shed his human skin and finally find some peace far away from all the faults that lie within humans.

He didn't leave a letter, nor did he bring anything other than his wand, but on December twentieth 1994 he left Hogwarts for good, never to return to civilisation again.

Hardly anyone noticed him leaving.

-x-x-x-

It had been days, months and years, since he had left that world that he never belong in, flown out of a window from the school that he couldn't remember the name of for the life of him, and made his way into the world beyond humans.

He had travelled, far and wide, in search of a place to settle, a place to belong. Flown over mountains covered in pure white snow, fields of green and yellow and seas the colour of a darkened sky. Never once venturing over places where humans had settled.

He hadn't returned to his human state even once. Now, he wasn't sure if he even was capable of it, having been an avian creature far longer than he had been a primate.

He hardly cared.

Perched on top of a tree, the highest one nearby, he looked over the vastness that was the Scandinavian forest, stretching as far his perfect eyes could reach in every direction. It was the closest to a 'home' that he had ever found, and he couldn't help but turn back every time he tried to fly away with the wind, to once more return to his position on the highest tree in the forest that seemed to cover the whole world.

He was waiting, for what or for whom, he didn't know. What he did now though, was that ignoring the feeling of _soon_, that enveloped his mind and heart, was not a road to be taken.

So he waited, and days turned to nights only to become days once more.

Then he saw them. Two blackest of black dots growing bigger and bigger as they came his way from over the tree clad horizon. Forms that could be recognizes as beings of his species, when they were close enough for his eyes to see the fine details.

Perching on either side of him on the tree closest to the sky, the dark birds that were more than just simple animals, scrutinized his soul down to the smallest detail, their eyes seeing far more than his, and found him worthy.

As he had searched and waited, they had too, but were for him it had been days, months and years, for them it had been years, decades and millennia.

They didn't have to wait anymore.

**-x-x-x-**

Far, far away in Valaskjálf, the building made of solid silver, the raven-god wept as he sat on Hliðskjálf.

For he knew that some things, were lost even to him.

**-x-x-x-**

**Notes on this one-shot:**

You may, or may not, have noticed that this was a crossover with Norse Mythology. Now I won't go into detail about it – just type in Norse Mythology in Wikipedia and you'll find more information – but there are some key-point which you should be made aware of for this to make more sense.

The two ravens mentioned are known as Huginn and Muninn and each day they fly over the world, Midgard, and search for information which they then share with Odin, the God who is the ruler of Asgard, when they return to him. Due to their association with the God, Odin is also known as the raven-god. In the Poetic Edda, a disguised Odin expresses that he fears that they may not return from their daily flights.

In Asgard, Odin has three residences, the second being Valaskjálf which is a building made of solid silver. Inside Valaskjálf there was an elevated place, Hliðskjálf – and from this throne Odin could perceive all that passed throughout the whole earth.

That should be everything of importance for this little piece of literature, but if you've got questions still, don't hesitate to ask.

Otherwise, please review and leave some request while you're at it.

CloudedCreation


End file.
